During fire emergencies, as well as chemical, biological, radioactive, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, it is critical to have breathable air and eye protection, in order to allow safe evacuation from a threatened region. While such events have an ordinary risk, recent terrorist threats have made the possibility and scope of such incidents far more visible.
During a mass evacuation, one generally plans for full, or even over-occupancy of a building. This presumption leads to a requirement for organized and easily deployed hoods.
Escape hoods typically have a single-use air filter which degrades over time. Therefore, the hoods may not remain in storage indefinitely. They must be activated prior to use to allow the normally-sealed air filter to contact fresh air.
Another limitation of escape hoods is that, during time of emergency, rapid deployment is essential.
An escape hood rack system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,165, expressly incorporated herein by reference. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 682,455, 3,500,033, 3,638,258, 3,895,625, 4,116,237, 4,173,220, 4,231,359, 4,236,514, 4,382,440, 4,627,431, 5,003,973, 5,113,527, 5,113,854, 5,119,808, 5,133,344, 5,146,636, 5,226,409, 5,283,911, 5,323,492, 5,367,706, 5,421,326, 5,431,156, 5,452,712, 5,483,956, 5,655,525, 5,690,095, 5,724,958, 5,820,530, 5,839,432, 5,875,775, 6,012,175, expressly incorporated herein by reference.